


You'll Be In My Heart

by captaincastle



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: 1880s, Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Historical References, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 09:04:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13291566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaincastle/pseuds/captaincastle
Summary: Tarzan/Jane AU - In a place where he lost everything, Frank found something new. She set out to tell a story, but Karen would get one she never expected.





	You'll Be In My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @headedstraightforthekastle for the kastle aesthetic that gave me the inspo for this!

Frank Castle, accompanied by his wife and two small children, gazes out to sea from aboard the ship. They’re on their way to England from America. From England they’ll go to Italy. Maria’s family is there, and wishes for her children to spend a year in Italy learning the language and seeing things Maria saw when she was growing up. 

Frank happily agreed, he fought in the Civil War at age 16 - against his family’s wishes. It’s now 1877 and Frank wants a change in scenery. Nightmares plague his dreams of his deeds in the war. The moment his wife mentioned Italy, Frank agreed. 

Sighing deeply Frank breathes in the smell of the sea. The salt scent is heavy in the air. Frank’s arm is secure around his young daughter Lisa. Her brown hair is in braids tied with pink ribbons. Maria cradles the young toddler, Frank Jr, with a smile on her face. The journey has been long, but it’s going to be worth it. 

Their days of peace shift when a storm blows up in the seas. The waters chop and beat against the ship violently. The course is lost, as is most of the crew. Frank does what he can to help - though he doesn’t know much about being a seaman. His hands ache with rope burn. For weeks they try to recover the lost course, instead they run aground somewhere unknown. 

The rations are divided among the survivors. Frank keeps watch while his family sleeps on the beach. But exhaustion and fatigue take over Frank’s body. Sleep takes him, and he wakes at dawn to his wife shaking him awake. 

Disoriented and panicked, Frank jolts awake. Sand is clinging to his stubble covered cheeks. 

The boat is leaving. 

“We’re better off than them,” Frank states gently to comfort his wife. 

“They abandoned us!” 

“They don’t have any more food, we do.” 

“Where Frank?” the stress and the heat is giving Maria a headache. 

Frank points behind them to the jungle just past the beaches. 

With Lisa on Frank’s back and Maria right behind him, Frank takes the first step into the jungle. 

The humidity sticks to their skin, and bugs buzz in their ears. Maria clutches onto Frank’s arm when she stumbles over a fallen branch. 

The trek into the woods is long, Frank doesn’t know much, but he knows about wandering in the heat looking for water. 

It’s not too long before they come across a small stream, but Frank doesn’t stop. He waits until they find a clearing near the water. He doesn’t tell this to Maria, but they need a location safe from predators. 

At the far end of the clearing there is a cliff. Frank warns Maria to stay clear, so she and the children won’t fall. The cliff is hidden by the tall trees growing right up against the cliff face. Frank later thinks he wants to climb on those trees, it’d be easy since he’d only have to take a step off the cliff into the limbs. 

While they get settled, Frank collects fruit from the nearby trees. His family is safe in the grass, and he’s got his eye on them. Frank cuts down fruit with his knife, and has a armful when he sees slash marks from claws on the tree. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he hears the low growl behind him. 

But it’s too late. 

He sees the jaguar on the opposite side of the clearing. Frank screams in agony as he runs to protect his family but he doesn’t make it. 

The beast scratches Frank’s stomach and back as he fights the animal. His knife pierces its shoulder, but Frank’s ankle twists under him. He falls backwards, his back hits a branch, he’s fallen off the cliff side. 

Doing what he can to grab on to a branch as he falls through the canopy, he finally stops on a thin branch. It snaps under his weight and Frank falls to the jungle floor hitting his head. 

\- 5 years later -

“Miss Page,” the captain nods at Karen and offers his hand. 

Karen curtsies in return, and takes his hand to step off the boat. It’s a sunny day, and the sun gleams off of her blonde hair. With her notebook in hand, she eagerly walks behind their guide into the jungle. 

Karen is a journalist, she hopes to publish an article about the sights seen in the African jungle and what it’s like to live there. Her uncle, the captain, and a guide all accompany her. Her uncle is a scientist, he’s here for research on jungle life. 

The ship’s crew follows behind with the luggage. The guide takes them to a clearing and the camp is built while Karen looks around. 

She takes notes and doodles pictures in her notebook. Her uncle is fussing about his equipment with the crewmen. 

“Don’t wander off Karen!” he warns, but she doesn’t listen. 

So she won’t lose her way, she follows the stream. As she walks uphill, the stream widens and she can hear the roar of a waterfall. Picking up her pace, she follows the sound til she is upon it. Her head spins as she looks down. The fall would be a great one, and cautiously she steps back. 

The view is a gorgeous one. She can see for miles, it’s all trees from this view. But colorful birds fly out of the branches and it takes her breath away. She stops to write and doodle a moment, then turns to walk back towards the campsite. 

Halfway down the hike, the heat makes her flush. She pockets her notebook, removes her gloves, and kneels to cup some of the water from the stream into her hands. She takes a drink, and enjoys the feeling of the cool water going down her throat. 

A splash startles her, and she looks up to see a man downstream. 

He’s kneeling as well, but his hands are splashing water onto his face and hair. 

She claps her hand over her mouth as she looks at him. He has tan, scarred skin. His muscle are broad and she blushes seeing a man so exposed. He’s wearing pants but they are tattered and torn at the knee. His calves air hairy, and she sees a sprinkling of chest hair on his chest. His hair is dark and curly, a thick beard lines his jaw. 

The drops of water he splashed, slide down his body and he looks like a character from a novel Karen read once. Her fair skin blushes easily, and when the man looks up at her, he seems as startled as her. 

His big brown eyes widen, and he stands frozen. 

Karen sees four large scars on his stomach. 

She takes a step forward, and he takes a step back. 

“Wait!” she gasps. “Who are you?” 

Those big brown eyes had not stopped looking at her, until she asked that question. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at the trickling stream beneath him. He cleared his throat a couple times finding his voice. 

“Frank,” he rasped. 

“Karen!!” Karen’s uncle’s voice rang out through the trees. Karen turned her head to look - and when she turned back - Frank was gone. 

 

Frank thought he had dreamed about her, but she was real. She looked like an angel. Her blonde her shining, her crisp white and yellow dress bright against the dark greens of the jungle around her. 

He watched her look for him for awhile, and he followed in the shadows when she left for her camp. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he saw a woman, or people. Hearing actual conversations from the men and Karen at the camp was almost too much for him. 

Quietly, Frank climbed into a tree to look from above. This place felt familiar, but he was too entranced with their conversation to recall what was bothering him. 

“Don’t laugh uncle! I know what I saw!” Karen stamped her foot in anger. 

“Yes and I’m sure he looked nothing like one of the men from your books.” He nods towards the crate of her things. “Your head is always in the clouds Karen. Come down. There is no man out here who is going to sweep you off your feet. Your romantic notions are clouding your work.” 

Karen frowns walking into her tent. 

Frank sighs from the tree above. They don’t believe her, and he barely believes his own mind. 

The smell of water is thick in the air, and Frank can tell it’s about to rain. He makes a mental note to return to this place, he wonders if Karen will be able to help him remember. 

The rain starts strong and heavy, Frank doesn’t mind. It washes the sweat and dirt off his back while he walks to his shelter. He’s made a small treehouse for himslef. An old ship washed up onshore a few years back, and he used the old wood to build a small shelter. It’s dry, and keeps him warm. He falls asleep to the sound of the rain and dreams about the blonde angel. 

He dreams of her laugh and gentle voice, his eyes linger on her plump pink lips. He dreams of what her smooth hair must feel like under his touch. The fair white column of her neck is delicate, the soft swell of her breasts in her dress makes his heart beat faster. He’s not seen such a soft woman in ages. But then his dream turns dark. He hears gunfire from the war. He sees blood and hears a deep growl. Frank wakes with a gasp, sweat is on his brow. 

Why can’t he remember where the growl is from? 

He touches the four vertical scars on his abs, and feels an ache in his heart. But he doesn’t know why. 

Sticking his arm out the little ‘window’ of his tree house, he grabs a piece of fruit. He takes a large bite, and feels the juice running down his chin. He thinks of Karen, he wants to see her again. 

 

"Your romantic notions are clouding your work.”

Karen’s cheeks flush in anger at her uncle. Embarrassed, she walks into her little tent. She doesn’t leave for the rest of the night. 

She writes into the night, she has a small lantern to write beside. Her thoughts linger on the strange man she saw. 

Frank. 

Maybe her uncle was right. Maybe the heat got to her and she just wished for a man like him. His deep raspy voice sounded so real to her. He couldn’t be a dream. 

An entire page of her notebook was dedicated to drawing him. She blushed a little drawing his muscles. She slammed her notebook shut when she imagined what his muscles must feel like under her fingers. Embarrassed by her wandering thoughts, she blew out the candle and went to bed. 

Her dreams would betray her, and her thoughts were clouded with imagining his lips on hers. She woke feeling flush. The humidity didn’t help. 

She dressed and collected her notebook. She flushed when she picked it up, she has a secret. She’s going to prove her uncle wrong. So what if there is a man in the jungle? Karen came to write about the jungle. 

 

Frank waits from above in the trees. Karen exits her tent, and joins the other men for breakfast. Unsure of what to do or say, Frank follows from a distance all day. He remains in the trees and shadows. 

He listens for mention of him, but the men only tease her about it once. The rest of their conversation is too quiet for Frank to hear. 

Something about the captain is familiar to Frank but he doesn’t know what it is. His mind hurts from thinking so hard trying to remember. 

The rest of the day is uneventful until it’s almost evening and Karen slips away into the night. 

The moon and stars are shining bright overhead. Karen is at the same spot where Frank first saw her. He’s up in the tree above, he wonders if she’s looking for him. Then he realizes what she is doing alone. 

She begins to remove her dress, Frank feels heat pool in his cheeks and ears. He turns his head away, and doesn’t look until he hears water. 

Her clothes are in a heap on the ground, and Karen is up to her stomach in the water. Her back is to him, her long blonde hair cascading down her back. 

She looks beautiful. He’s ashamed he’s staring at her without her knowledge, but as of now, he’s only seen her bare shoulders. 

A twig snaps, and Frank hears Karen gasp. On instinct, he slides down the tree to investigate. Gasping even louder, Karen covers herself and ducks into the water. 

“Were you watching me?” she whispers. He’s embarrassed her, and himself. 

“I didn’t see anything,” he answers. “I heard a noise, and I saw you in the water, I wanted to make sure you were alright.” 

“You know, everyone in the camp thinks you’re a figment of my imagination.” 

“I thought you were a dream.” 

Karen glances to her clothes, and Frank turns his back. He closes his eyes, and fights to not turn around. His heart is pounding, she’s so beautiful he wants to see her. But just because he lives in the jungle doesn’t make him an animal. 

He jumps when he feels her hand touch the scars on his shoulder. 

“Where did these come from?” 

He turns to see her dress is crumpled and dirty. Parts of it are clinging to her still wet skin. 

“I don’t remember.”

Karen cocks her head in question. 

“Follow me,” Frank offers her his hand. 

Karen looks at his calloused scarred hand and takes it. Without question, she follows him deep into the jungle, in the dark. 

“I’ll have you back by morning,” he tells her. 

In the faint light of the moon, Karen spots Frank’s small makeshift home. 

“Can I show you?” Frank asks her. His voice is so gravelly from not speaking in so long. 

She nods, and he helps her up the tree. 

He explains how he made the tree house, and how he doesn’t remember how he got here. 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Karen asks. 

“When I was 16, I was hit in the head with the butt of a gun in the war. Can’t remember anything after that. It goes in and out. Usually in my dreams.” 

“So you fought in the war and ended up here? And you don’t remember a thing? No family?” 

“Let’s get you back,” Frank cuts her off. His memories haunt him, he doesn’t want to haunt her. 

Slowly and gently he lowers her from the tree. His hand rests on her hip to support her. A dirty hand print is left behind on her yellow and white dress. 

 

Once she’s back in her tent, Karen pulls out her notebook. 

“The way he touched my hip is clear that he knows how to handle a woman. I’m not the first woman in his life.” 

She wrote about all the events that happened that night and blew out the candle in the lantern. 

Days passed and she didn’t see him. She was disappointed, but went about her work. The days were long, and the nights even longer. The men in the group had begun to notice her more. Especially after they had been drinking. 

“Say Karen you seen your mystery man in the woods?” the captain slurred. 

“Even if I did captain, you would tell me I’m foolish, like my uncle.” Karen didn’t look up from her notes. 

The guide took a long drink from his flask, and grinned at Karen. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat by the campfire. 

“Why don’t you show us that notebook? Maybe you made some notes about ‘im,” the guide snatched her notebook from her fingers. 

“Give it back please,” Karen stood in front of him. He smiled again. 

“You want it back? You’ll have to take it from me. Let’s see what we have here....” the guide flipped through the pages, he stopped when he saw the drawings. “Look what we have here! Karen’s in love with a wild man!” 

“Give me my notes!” hot tears formed in her eyes. She reached to grab it, and it slipped from the guide’s hands. Her notebook barely missed the flames of the campfire. A corner was singed, but Karen was quick to stamp it out. She scoffed at her uncle for allowing that to happen, and turned on her heels to enter her tent. 

 

Frank sits quietly in the trees watching, Karen is in her tent. He didn’t see her go inside. He sees the men drinking, and a memory flashes in his mind of when he was at war. Men and boys sharing drinks around a campfire in the cold. 

Sighing he rests his head against the back of the tree trunk. He hears leaves rustle, and opens his eyes to see a long tail swish in front of his face. 

He freezes, his heart is pounding so loud in his ears. He can’t let this jaguar hurt Karen. He can’t watch that again. 

‘Again?’ he thinks. 

It hits him. He sees the men sitting in the middle of the clearing, it’s the same as when he arrived. 

Maria. 

His wife, and children. 

He remembers everything. The fight, his fall. The fall where he hit his head. He’d forgotten everything after that fall. 

Panic at the threat in front of him, and emotions hitting him from his past flood through his mind. Frank sucks in a breath, but the swishing tail moves away from Frank. 

The jaguar sees the men in the clearing. 

Frank is silent, he prays Karen doesn’t leave her tent. 

The jaguar creeps quietly, Frank watches but has no control over the situation. He learned before. With a thud the cat jumps from the tree, and toes quietly into the campsite. The men are too drunk to notice the circling animal. 

Frank sees its eyes reflect the fire, and an icy feeling of horror hits him. Karen is down there, defenseless. 

The cat pounces and goes for the guide. The men start to holler and Karen’s uncle reaches for his gun. Shots are fired, men are yelling, and Frank sees Karen’s hair shine in the firelight when she pokes her head out of the tent. 

She gasps and darts back inside. Frank has to get down there. 

He climbs down the tree in haste, the guide is dead, and the uncle is drunkenly firing off shots. 

Frank sees the captain, and another realization hits him. That’s the captain who left Frank and his family behind. 

Acting fast, Frank positions himself between the tent and the jaguar. When the jaguar sees Frank, it lunges for him. 

Karen, hearing the growls close by, peeps out of her tent. She immediately recognizes the mop of curls and the slash scars on his back. 

In horror, she watches the beast lunge for Frank. It tackles him to the ground, its claws dig into his shoulders. Frank lets out a roar and reaches for his knife. When Karen gasps the jaguar looks up at her. Frank, seeing the jaguar shift its gaze, plunges the knife into its neck. Blood splatters on Frank’s chest, and the beast falls to the ground. 

Chest heaving, Frank lays for a moment on the cool ground. He looks up at Karen, her eyes are filled with tears and her mouth is hanging open. 

Frank pushes the animal aside, and stands strong. With the blood splatter on his chest, mixed with the four vertical claw marks, it resembles a skull. 

He turns to see the caption looking at Frank in a stupor. Without a word, Frank stabs the captain the the chest. More blood is spilled on Frank’s skin. 

The blood shines in the light from the fire, and Karen runs to hug Frank. 

She’s in her nightgown but she doesn’t care. 

“Come with me,” Karen smiles softly and pulls Frank to the stream. She ignores the look of shock on her uncle’s face. 

Tearing off strips from the bottom of her bloody nightgown, she wets the cloths and cleans Frank’s wounds. 

“Thank you,” Karen whispers. She looks at his face, but he doesn’t look back. 

He mumbles a little before he speaks. He reaches for her hair, and runs his fingers through it. 

“You’re welcome. And thank you.” 

“For what?” 

“You helped me remember.” 

“So do you know where these came from now?” she asks and gently touches the scars on his stomach. His abs tremble under her touch. 

Karen knows the answer, but the question is forgotten when his big brown eyes look up at her. He cups her face gently and pulls her in for a tender kiss. His beard tickles and she flushes thinking of her dream. 

This kiss is better than a dream. 

Karen leads Frank back to her tent, her uncle is drunkenly asleep in his tent across the camp. 

They both sit down, and the air in the tent is hot and tight suddenly. 

“I haven’t....in a long time.” Frank says quickly. 

“I haven’t....ever.” Karen’s cheeks burn hot. She watches Frank’s face soften. She could cry from how tender he looks. 

Slowly, Frank stands up. He offers his hand to her, and she stands. Her knees buckle from nerves and he steadies her with a smile. 

“I’ve been so focused on my work I never had time for boys. Then everyone I met was married and it just never-”

“Ssh ssh shh.” He pushes her hair back off her shoulders. Cupping her face gently, he pulls her in for another kiss. 

“We should start a life together Frank, come home with me. Back to America. Forget this terrible place and start over.” 

“Yeah? You watched me kill a man and you don’t care?” he looks in her eyes. Seeing his handsome face so close to hers, her cheeks redden, but she holds his gaze. 

“Come with me.” 

He doesn’t look from her face when he pushes the sleeves down from her nightgown. It pools around her ankles and he sees her eyes widen. He grabs the back of her head and plants a searing kiss on her lips. His other hand rests on her lower back. 

All clothes are gone, and Karen turns out the lantern. Frank gently nudges Karen to lie on her back, and he starts to kiss her. Every inch of her skin is kissed and caressed. She writhes and wriggles at the new sensations. His beard scratches her but she finds it’s a welcome feeling. She’s embarrassed at the sound she makes when his lips pleasure her between her legs. When he slides up to kiss her neck, her legs wrap around him. He moves slow so as not to hurt her. He groans at the feeling. Based on what Karen told him, it’s been 5 years since he’s been with a woman. He’ll always miss Maria, but in this moment he can only think of Karen. 

Her blonde hair spreads across the pillow, and Frank buries his face in her neck. Karen rubs his back, and her fingers touch the bumps of his scars. 

“So where are you from?” Frank asks when he shifts beside her. 

“New York.” 

“New York huh? Small world.”

"You’re from New York?” Karen smiles. 

“Yes ma’am,” Frank returns her smile and runs his hand along her skin. She twitches when he brushes sensitive skin. 

She reaches for her notebook, and Frank admires her body move. 

“What’re you writing about?” 

“You.” 

Frank smiles in question. 

“I came here to write about life in the jungle, and who better to write about than someone who lives in the jungle.” 

“You gonna talk about what just happened?” Frank teases. 

“’Journalist has sex with wild man,’ that’d be a great article title.”

Frank laughs, and Karen’s heart aches to hear the sound. 

Shyly, Karen shows Frank her drawing. With a smile, he kisses her forehead. 

“Let’s go to New York Miss Page.” 

Karen falls asleep in his arms excited for their future together in New York.


End file.
